Geneseo doesn't welcome 10 rescued dogs
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| In this photo taken Dec. 27, 2011, Gabriele Duke runs in the backyard of her home in Geneseo with some of her dogs. (AP Photo/The Dispatch, Lisa Hammer) |
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GENESEO (AP) — When Gabriele Duke, a civilian employee of First Army, learned earlier this year she would be transferred to the Rock Island Arsenal, her first priority in relocating was to find a home where she could bring her 10 dogs.
She thought she had found what she needed in the Geneseo Hills subdivison north of Geneseo.
She said her Realtor "assured me that he had checked with all authorities" and there would be no problem about the dogs.
But the Realtor apparently relied on a verbal assurance. He did not discover Ms. Duke would require a special use permit and kennel license if she had more than three dogs.
Ms. Duke found out there could be a problem last summer when she came to rural Geneseo from Atlanta for the closing on her home last summer. She met a neighbor and said she hoped she didn't mind that she owned 10 dogs.
She recalled the neighbor said she certainly DID mind and began a petition drive the next day. Ms. Duke was dismayed she action was taken before her neighbor even met the dogs.
Ms. Duke discovered she would have to go through four layers of county government to get a kennel license: the county planning committee, the zoning board of appeals, the plan/development committee and, finally, the county board.
She started the process, but 22 neighbors signed petitions and six couples and two individuals wrote letters of objection to her first kennel license application.
"When it got a little out of hand I said, 'Hey,'" she said, making a time-out motion, "I'm going to get a lawyer."
Her second application for a special kennel license will go before the planning committee on Jan. 16 and the zoning board meeting Jan. 18.
Before then, she has a Jan. 9 hearing for violating an ordinance by having more than three dogs older than four months old.
Zoning officer Kyle Stromquist, who declined to comment due to the pending hearing, said the situation is "not the way it's perceived."
Ms. Duke said the county suggested a compromise, giving her six months to reduce the number of dogs to three. But she expressed concern that no one will want her 8-year-old dogs. She said she is willing to reduce the dogs through natural attrition.
"I'm not breeding or boarding or anything and I'm willing not to replace them as they expire," she said.
"I had no reason to believe that I would be in violation of a local zoning code," she stated in her official rebuttal. "It was a stunning surprise to me when I received a letter from the Henry County Zoning/Building Department the day after I had moved in stating that I may be in violation of the Henry County ordinance if I operate a kennel from my property without a special use permit approved by the Henry county board.
"I assure you that I am not operating a kennel business of any kind. All I am seeking is a special use permit that allows me to keep my 10 rescued dogs until their natural end."
Although she and her uncle moved in on Aug. 15, many of their possessions remain unpacked as she awaits the outcome of the dispute with the county.
"I have been with those dogs anywhere from two to 14 years," she said. "We have established a bond that I believe is every bit is as strong as if they were two-legged kids."
Ms. Duke also said she is willing to let health department or humane society reprsentatives inspect her property for health issues.
She contends not all of her dogs bark, and the ones that do are taken back indoors within one or two minutes of being outside. She said she's walked the perimeter of her yard and any barking dogs indoors aren't audible.
Ms. Duke maintains her dogs are strictly companion animals -- rescued dogs. She noted that, being just a few years from retirement herself, she is not apt to add to their number for financial reasons.
